Edelweiss’ Special Opportunities Fund LLC (ESOF), a closed-end fund, has announced its first close of $105 million. The fund, sponsored by Edelweiss Capital’s overseas alternative asset advisory arm EAAA LLC, will invest in transactions presenting special investment opportunities in India, a press statement said.
According to an earlier report, the initial target corpus of this fund was pegged at $200 million.
According to the statement, “India continues to offer attractive returns on alternative assets, and interest in India focused alternative funds is on the rise.” Edelweiss, with a group net worth of over $520 million, is India’s leading diversified financial services company.
While the Edelweiss fund has not spelt out the sectors or exact nature of opportunities it will be chasing, this special situations family of funds typically invests in restructuring and turnaround operations. Investing in distressed debt has attracted lots of attention globally given the low valuations and opportunities of owning major stakes, post restructuring. Distressed companies in sectors such as automobiles, real estate, textiles and so on, with tangible assets, are normally high on the radar of special situations funds.
Players that are in the distressed assets play in India include ADM Capital, Halcyon, WL Ross, Clearwater Capital, Arcil among others. Asset Reconstruction Company of India (Arcil) has plans to launch a $600 million fund to nvest in distressed bank assets.
